1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to bale loading of a transport vehicle in an agricultural setting. The invention enables the lifting, rotating, and depositing of a big bale from the ground in the field onto a modified truck or vehicle for consolidation into a load with other bales for transport from the field over highways at highway speeds. The invention in the preferred embodiment serves as a useful modification of a ten wheel truck having a longitudinal two channel main frame into an autonomous big bale loader, retriever, and transporter for picking up serially individual big bales in a field and assembling the resulting group of big bales into a double or triple layer stack of bales on a stack carriage bed mounted to the main frame in place of a conventional truck bed for transport to a consolidated bale storage location and autonomous depositing of the stack at that location. The stack carriage bed is pivotally mounted on the main frame to allow tilting up of the front end of the carriage bed and tilting down of the back end of the carriage bed to the ground and return. The transporter can also be used to retrieve a stack of bales and move them to another location.
A bale pickup assembly and a swing gate assembly of the invention have a field deployment position for picking up individual bales in the field and a stowed over-the-road transport position for when the transporter is coming or going from the field.
The invention in its preferred embodiment allows for improved handling of individual big bales in the field and for improved handling of consolidated stacks of bales both in the field and at storage locations.
2. Description of Related Art
A number of big bale loading devices exist that can aid a person in loading wagons and other transport vehicles in the field. The prior devices are generally more cumbersome, bulky, and complex than the present invention. The present invention provides for a less complex big bale loader, retriever, and transporter and provides an efficient tool that should save time and labor costs over other existing equipment.
The present invention, a loader, retriever, and transporter permits a novel lifting, rotating, and depositing of a bale from the ground in the field onto and across an elevating and flipping receiving table assembly mounted to the main frame of the transporter, consolidating of a plurality of lifted bales into a two-high, three-high, or four-high consolidated stack of bales on a stack carriage bed pivotally mounted to the main frame of the transporter, transporting of the consolidated stack to a storage location, tilting of the carriage bed to the rear, and depositing of the consolidated stack at the storage location.